The Blackstone Group is adding to its Asian hedge fund lineup, led by new hires from SAC Capital Advisors and Banc of America Securities.

Blackstone Altius Advisors, based in Hong Kong, will run a new event-driven strategy. It is led by Aaron Nieman, most recently managing director at SAC’s Canvas Capital Management. He will be backed by Christopher Pesce, who left his post as global head of prime brokerage at BofA last year, as chief operating officer.

“Aaron has a superb history of developing teams and investing in Asia,” Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwartman said. “He will add greater depth and intellectual capital to Blackstone’s wide range of alternative investment businesses, and we are delighted that he has chosen to join us.”

“As Blackstone continues to aggressively seek opportunities within Asia, Aaron and his team will provide additional investment capability that will bolster our presence in the region,” Antony Leung, chairman of Blackstone Greater China, added.

In addition to its Hong Kong team, Altius will boast professionals in New York, Tokyo and Mumbai, India.

The new strategy will operate alongside Blackstone’s existing alternative investments in Asia, including a private equity fund, fund of hedge funds business and real estate fund.